Plainedge High School proudly announced the names of its Top Ten students of the Class of 2004 as: Valedictorian Jennifer Molloy, Salutatorian Shane Colton, Kelly Garone, Amy Brida, Angelita Isenberg, Tara Kalberer, Timothy Chu, Kelly Walter, Jacqueline Starczewski and Laura Pugliese.

Throughout Valedictorian Jennifer Molloy's high school career, she used her summers to challenge herself with new experiences, including a workshop focused on genetically engineering bacteria at the Cold Spring Harbor DNA lab. She has won numerous prestigious awards, including the Long Island Science Congress Certificate of Recognition, the Harvard Radcliffe Award, the Bausch and Lomb Honorary Science Award and the Young Women of Achievement Award. She was named an AP Scholar with Honor and as a member of Plainedge High School's newly formed Ben Franklin (social studies) Honor Society, she helped develop its constitution. Jen was also a member of the National Honor Society, English Honor Society, Foreign Language Honor Society, and as president of the Math Honor Society, she initiated a math tutoring program.

Not only is Jen truly gifted academically, but she is also a well-rounded young woman. She's earned the Girl Scout Silver Award, assisted with the Breast Cancer walk, worked with John Theissen's Toys for Sick Children and participated on a competitive dance team. This year, she served as corresponding secretary of the PTSA working with the PTA on behalf of the student body.

Jen will attend Cornell University in the fall, with plans to go on to grad school and become a professor.

Salutatorian Shane Colton is a National Merit Semifinalist, an AP Scholar, and has won the prestigious Rensellaer Medal. He has represented Plainedge in the Long Island Science Congress, participating in a year-long science project competing with students from other regional schools.

Shane traces his keen interest in math and science, especially physics, to his childhood love of building with Legos. He's been a member of the high school robotics club team, helping to design and build a robot able to accomplish an assigned task in the annual FIRST robotics competition. During this year's competition, he played a key role, applying his analytical and logical mind to the task of strategizing and problem solving.

Shane offers his services as an usher in his church and made sandwiches for needy folks at the INN. He's a pianist, studying classical, jazz and modern music, and he's been a member of the jazz and marching bands. As a freshman peer counselor, he has demonstrated his leadership skills, helping ease the transition from middle school to high school by guiding younger students through orientation and helping them understand the demands of high school.

Shane plans to attend MIT and pursue a career in mechanical or aerospace engineering.

Plainedge High School takes pride in its Class of 2004. The seniors have a legacy of hard work, even while striving for excellence through their participation in academic extracurricular clubs, such as Devil's Tale, the PHS student newspaper, Ventures, the high school's literary magazine; the forensic club and the 17 varsity teams that were awarded scholar-athlete status, having achieved a composite GPA of 90 percent or above.

This year's graduates also received a remarkable number of scholarship dollars - over $700,000 from colleges, universities and community organizations.